Saturday, 3rd September 2011

Look what I've been doing all day yesterday, ready for the official launch of our Heritage Leaflet and Walk:

54 rosy cup cakes  -  thank you, Annie, for the inspiration!


PS on Saturday evening: The launch this morning was a great success, all the people who had worked towards it were so pleased with how well it went.  The school hall was full of village people studying the displays of old photographs from our area, who bought cakes and drinks and signed up for the fund-raising lottery, and 4 groups of about a dozen people each were escorted around the Heritage Walk No.1.  

The weather was perfect, too, yesterday would have been too hot for walking!
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I'm a little late telling you about this momentous event [it's been a busy week what with Luncheon Club duty on Wednesday, monthly walk with Moira Group on Thursday ...], but the first meeting of our two ducky groups has taken place, and Captain and his 4 were ousted from their pond! Our 10 youngsters had been getting braver with every day and venturing further and further into the garden.  On Wednesday afternoon I saw them in the orchard, and they were getting ever closer to the 5 at the big pond until ......  


I think I'd better just insert the photos, I can tell the tale later.



These first two photos show what I saw when I first came out of the house after a late lunch break on Wednesday afternoon.  I thought I'd better grab a cup of tea and watch what the little tykes were up to.




While I was watching, cup of tea in one hand and camera in the other, they didn't seem too comfortable and headed back home ..... and so did I to replenish my tea.



When I came out again they were at the edge of the orchard once more:

           Can you see the waterhen in this one, running away?













In the two photos above you can see Hedda lying resting near the runner beans, the others were near her too:

By this time I had the video camera rolling as I was expecting them to meet, and I now have a record of the event. Unfortunately it's much too large to put in here.

What happened was that the 10 progressed uphill to go the long way around to the big pond,the 5 residents by this time had moved to where they normally enter it to - hopefully - fend off the intruders.  It didn't work, they were outnumbered. 

The youngsters went straight into the water splashing and diving as if they'd always been in there.  Anke and Lane hopped out in fright closely followed by Candida.  Captain and Hedda stayed in the water most of the time with Captain mounting an attack on one or other of the newcomers ... who ignored him completely.  He doesn't have much clout at present, obviously, being in the moult.

Eventually all came out and the 10 made as if to follow the 5 into the field.  That's when I saw Candida, normally über-shy and easily frightened, have a real go at Beyoncé/Praline [I still like the name Praline for her].  I didn't catch it on camera, this is a picture just before she attacks:

Both groups have joined together at the big pond every day   since  -  they'll sort themselves out after a little time!